Greeley Central’s Andrew Alirez celebrates after winning the 145-pound championship match during the Class 4A Colorado Wrestling Championships in February at the Pepsi Center in Denver.Joshua Polson/jpolson@greeleytribune.com | The Greeley Tribune

Greeley Central senior Andrew Alirez and 10 Windsor wrestlers were among the Greeley-area athletes to advance to the semifinals at state Class 4A regional tournaments on Friday.

There are four regional tournament sites in each of the four classes – 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A – and the top four wrestlers in each weight class advance to the state tournament on Feb. 21-23 at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

The two-day regional tournaments conclude today.

Greeley Central’s Andrew Alirez celebrates after winning the 145-pound championship match during the Colorado State Wrestling Championships in Denver in Feb. 2018.

Windsor, ranked third in Class 4A this week in the On The Mat poll, is at Thomas Jefferson High School with 13 other schools for its regional. Greeley Central, Greeley West, Northridge and Roosevelt are among 14 schools in a regional at Mead High School.

The other two regional sites are Discovery Canyon and Lewis-Palmer High Schools.

Windsor, the defending Class 4A state champion, was in second place in the team standings with 86 points after Friday’s action. Grand Junction Central, ranked sixth in Class 4A, leads the team standings with 92 points.

On Friday, he received a bye to the quarters where he then pinned Loveland’s Cody Weimer in 58 seconds. Alirez, who is among 10 scholastic candidates for a nationwide wrestler of the year award, will face Mead’s Emilio Chavez in the semifinals on Saturday. Chavez, a junior who is 31-13 this season, advanced with pins in his first two matches.

Alirez will be joined in the semifinals by five teammates: Julian Vasquez at 126 pounds, Zander Alirez at 138, Michael Serna at 182, Cody Solis at 195 and Anthony Alirez at 220.

Greeley West will have four wrestlers in the semifinals: Dion Velasquez (106), Tony Ulaszek (145), Leopoldo Hernandez (160) and Ty Starks (285). Seven other Spartans are in the consolation rounds.

Wyatt Carpenter and Cort Cunningham moved into the semifinals for Northridge High School. Carpenter advanced with two decisions at 132 and Cunningham earned two pins at 160 to get through. The Grizzlies have five wrestlers in consolation rounds: Clay Alexander, Damian Gallegos, Israel Campa, Rick Ortiz and Kade Aragon.

In Class 3A, the Region 2 tournament at Platte Valley features several Weld County Schools.

Looking to qualify a wrestler for state after qualifying none a year ago, University has 10 of its original 11 wrestlers still in contention, including semifinalists senior 145-pounder Josh Anderson (20-10), sophomore 220-pounder Sebastian Cortez (11-13) and talented junior heavyweight Emanuel Munoz-Alcala (32-3). The Bulldogs (31) are eighth in the team standings.

Host Platte Valley finished Day 1 in the top 5 but may have trouble moving any further up the 14-team standings. Platte Valley has 57 points, well behind fourth-place Fort Morgan’s 70.5. The Broncos have five wrestlers in today’s championship semifinals: sophomore 106-pounder Nicholas Dill (16-15), freshman 120-pounder Orrin Jackson (25-13), junior 160-pounder Josh Yancey (23-8), senior 182-pounder Colton Moore (24-7) and sophomore 195-pounder Jeremiah Garcia (19-11). Five other Platte Valley wrestlers are competing today in consolations with a chance to earn one of the region’s four state tournament berths.

Resurrection Christian will no doubt savor their chances at state tournament berths today. There likely won’t be too many opportunities. Of the 10 wrestlers Resurrection Christian brought to the regional, only five remain alive in the tournament. That includes championship semifinalist freshman 132-pounder Eddie Lemos (24-14). With 12 team points, the Cougars are 13th out of 14th in the team standings.